THE King’s letter was a “warning shot” to attention-seeking Harry and Meghan to not overshadow the royal family, a royal expert has said.
Harry and Meghan made a bombshell return to the UK earlier this month, but Charles took the opportunity yesterday to remind the public that the Sussexes are not working royals.
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Though the pair will engage in public events and may even wrangle themselves police protection, the Megxit deal still stands.
Royal expert Phil Dampier told The Sun that the King’s statement was a warning shot, more addressed to the public than the monarch’s wayward son.
Analysing the King’s messaging, Dampier said: “It’s really sending out a message—a warning shot across their bows, you could say. What they’re [the palace] emphasising is that nothing has changed as far as they’re concerned.
“No one was expecting them to come back, so they didn’t feel it was necessary to point this out before.
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“But now that they’ve come back and might start turning up to various charity events or doing commercial activities, it’s got to be absolutely clear to everyone that they are doing it as private individuals and not as royals.”
He added that the message may well be ignore by Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, who “like the drama.”
Dampier added that the King’s letter was a sign he was sticking to the Megxit deal laid out by his own mum, the late Queen.
He explained: “This is not the beginning of them trying to worm their way back in and have the half-in, half-out deal that the late Queen specifically said was out of the question.
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“If Harry and Meghan had any sense, they should take note of it and dial down the confrontation—but history tells us that they’re not very good at that.”
This morning it was reported that the King’s message was poorly received in Harry and Meghan’s camp.
The Sussexes said they were “surprised” by the bombshell statement, with the couple’s spokesperson claiming that they were blindsided by the letter and were not told before it was released publicly.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes said: “We were a little surprised not to have been told about this [the letter] in advance.”
It is claimed the statement was shared with Sussexes at 1:59pm and twenty minutes later Harry’s office asked Buckingham Palace if the “guidance had gone out already.”
At 3.09pm, Prince Harry left a meeting and was reached by his office to be made aware of the letter which was three minutes after it was made public.
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However, the Daily Mail reports that palace sources claim Harry and Meghan are “incorrect” and had been sent a copy of the letter before it was published.
The couple were not consulted on the contents of the statement, the Sun understands.
Harry and Meghan are also understood to be concerned about the timing of the letter, with an imminent meeting to decide if they will receive their long-sought royal protection reportedly happening today.
But, the couple are in no place to complain about timing, author of Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan in Their Own Words Phil Dampier, said.
The royal expert explained: “I think Harry and Meghan like drama. I think they like being the centre of attention. They didn’t take timing into consideration when they suddenly moved back without telling anyone, so when it comes to timing, they’re the worst culprits.
“When Harry and Meghan are out and about, who’s to say they won’t time things deliberately to overshadow other members of the Royal Family, particularly William and Catherine?
“I think they’re trying it on. No one was expecting them to come back, so no one had time to figure out what to do about it.
“The fear is that once they start doing charity jobs and turning up for various functions, they will look like royals, talk like royals, and call themselves the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but of course they aren’t working royals.
“So obviously, the Palace has had to make it extremely clear to everyone that even when people see them out and about, they are not representing the royal family.
“The fact that they’ve reacted to this letter and said they were surprised by it shows they haven’t learned.”
Harry was seen in public for the first time since returning to the UK yesterday – attending a podcast studio in central London.
And, hours after photos of Harry emerged, Meghan’s As Ever Instagram account posted a picture of her in a garden in celebration of the Labor Day holiday in the US.
Both he and Meghan will soon begin public engagements and are pushing for 24/7 police protection amid an ongoing security row.
The Home Office committee, known as RAVEC, responsible for deciding if they are entitled to royal security are reportedly gathering today.
Though, they withdrew from the Royal Rota system in 2020 they will continue to take on public facing engagements and charity work.
Mr Dampier believes the security question is a real problem for the pair, who lost their security when they stepped down as working royals and now pay for their own.
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He said: “This is a massive problem because on the one hand, the public overwhelmingly feels that they should have to pay for their security.
“But on the other hand, we live in dangerous times, and there probably is a threat to them.
“But they chose to leave and put themselves in this position, and it didn’t help when Harry started talking about killing 25 Taliban.
“Ultimately, they all know that if RAVEC decides they do need full-time protection, there’s going to be all hell to pay because I don’t think the public will accept it.
“A period of silence would be appropriate, but the fact that they’ve reacted to this letter and said they were surprised by it shows they haven’t learned.
“If they wanted peace, they should have just said, ‘Oh yes, we were aware of it and we accept the findings’, or something like that. The fact that they haven’t shows they haven’t really learned any lessons on diplomacy.”
The drama comes amid the anniversary of the late Queen’s death and the first day of Kate and William’s son George’s first day at Eton.
The 13-year-old future King is following in the footsteps of his dad and uncle Harry, becoming a boarder at the 586-year-old school.
Both William and Prince Harry attended the prestigious college as teenagers.
Wills regularly left Eton for afternoon tea in Windsor Castle with the late Queen.
There had been some speculation around which school George would attend after he finished at an independent prep school in Berkshire.
However, a traditional option was chosen with the young royal attending Eton, which is not far from his family home in Windsor.
But the important day for the young prince was overshadowed by the back and forth from Harry and Meghan regarding their security, the King’s message and their return to the UK.
Mr Dampier explained: “Well, this is one of the problems. When we start to get a controversy over Harry and Meghan, it tends to make the front pages.
“We’ve got Prince George going to Eton today—his first day at Eton—and we’ve got the anniversary of the Queen‘s death, and it’s overshadowing it all. I think this is what the Royal Family is worried about
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“It seemingly is a case where you give them an inch and they take advantage, and they don’t learn at any stage that they need to rein it back and be more humble and cooperative.”
King Charles has publicly reaffirmed Megxit
By Matt Wilkinson, Royal Editor
KING Charles has done more than publicly reaffirm the terms of Megxit – he has made clear to everyone who is in charge.
Harry and Meghan have returned to Britain but the Sandringham Agreement of 2020 still stands and they remain private individuals with no official working royal status.
Apart from their geographical location, nothing has changed.
But Charles needed to intervene as they will soon begin public engagements which will attract a blitz of attention and people need to know how to treat them.
Now the public have been reminded there are working royal roles such as Charles, Camilla, William, Kate, Anne, Edward and Sophie, which come with responsibilities.
Then we have the non-working royals which include Mike and Zara Tindall, Peter Philips, Beatrice and Eugenie, and now, this is where we find Harry and Meghan.
They are not the King and Queen. They are not the Prince and Princess of Wales. They gave up their right to be on that level when they stepped down and jetted to the US on a ‘freedom flight’.
So much time has passed people should rightly be forgiven for being confused about the Sussexes status or forgotten what was agreed in January 2020.
It’s a gentle and diplomatic reminder to local authorities, government and military chiefs of the Sussexes status and how they should be treated if they make any diva demands on their return.
But it is also a reminder to Harry and Meghan and comes as a welcome confirmation of who is the boss.